Bond, James Bond. Who can deny the crisp, macho appeal of the famous name? Certainly not the moviegoers who flocked to the theaters this past Friday to see the 22nd flick featuring the British spy. And certainly not novelist Ian Fleming, 007's creator, who pilfered it from a shy American ornithologist.

You read that correctly. The REAL Bond was a birder. In an Audubonweb exclusive, reporter Katie Tweed profiles the man who inspired Ian Fleming, who was a birder himself. As you'll learn, the original Bond didn't share too many traits with his fictional counterpart, but he DID seem to favor a low-profile lifestyle—which makes one wonder: Perhaps he would have made a good spy, too...

On a related note, Fleming set the scene of Doctor No on a Caribbean island similar to Great Inagua, to which Audubon has ties and which is home to an IBA. Frank Graham Jr. wrote about the island in "Burning Desire" [July-August 2005].

To see a trailer of The Quantum of Solace, the 22nd 007 installment, go here.